Tuesday, November 30, 2021

No Reciprocity Needed

When we receive a gift, we feel indebted to the giver. We want to give something back of equal value. Yet, most friends, family members, and other givers of gifts don't expect that of us. They don't give us gifts with the expectation of receiving something in return. That's not how "giving" works. Sure, it's nice to give back to the people who give gifts to us, but when we can't repay the gift, whether because we didn't bring a gift to the party or because we can't afford the same quality of gift we've received or for any other reason, the best thing to do is to thank the giver, make good use of the gift, and move on, no reciprocity needed.

This is especially true with the Atonement. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest gift we've ever been given and could ever be given. As such, there's no way that we could ever repay that gift, and Christ doesn't expect us to. He just expects us to thank Him and make good use of His gift by repenting and becoming pure. The best and only way to "pay Jesus back" is to use His gift to become like Him.

We don't need to worry about repaying Jesus or anyone else who gives us a good gift. It's natural to want to reciprocate, and it's probably good to do so when we can, but we don't need to worry about it, especially in the case of Christ's Atonement. Reciprocation is nice, and it feels fair, but it isn't needed.

No comments: